Venezuela Migration Nears 'Mediterranean Crisis Point'
Last edited Sat Aug 25, 2018, 03:36 AM - Edit history (1)
Source: BBC News
3 hrs. ago.
The UN has warned Venezuela is heading for the same refugee "crisis moment" seen in the Mediterranean in 2015.
The warning comes as neighbouring countries try to stem the flow of Venezuelans looking to escape the country's dire economic situation.
Peru brings in stricter border regulations on Saturday- a day after a court overturned Ecuador's attempt to strengthen its own controls. More than two million Venezuelans have fled their country since 2014. They are fleeing a severe economic crisis which has led to shortages of food, medicine and basic goods.
◾How Venezuela's crisis drove out millions of people ◾Venezuelan's bridge of desperation ◾My first week as a BBC Venezuela correspondent
Now, the threat of becoming trapped has sent many more running for the border. Jonathan Zambrano, 18, who is at Tumbes on the border between Ecuador and Peru, told news agency AFP he had been on the road for five days along with many others.
More than 2,500 crossed into the small Peruvian border town of Aguas Verdes on Friday, according to the agency, with thousands more attempting to reach Peru at the main crossing point at Tumbes. They are trying to arrive before the new rule, requiring them to have valid passports, is brought into force on Saturday. Until now, Venezuelans have been allowed to enter Peru with just their ID cards...More...
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45304086
Ecuador brought in a similar law last week. However, on Friday, a judge found requiring Venezuelans to carry valid passports broke regional agreements on freedom of movement. The state of Roraima, in Brazil's Amazon region, also had its attempt to close the border thrown out by a judge earlier this month.
'It's hard to help.' A hardening attitude towards Venezuelans seeking a new life could also be heard on the streets in Peru.
Giannella Jaramillo, who runs a clothes stall in a town near the border, told AFP: "On the one hand we're sorry for the Venezuelan people, but they are taking a job away from a Peruvian. "In economically poor countries, it's hard to help more people with what little there is."
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It's clear for some time that world governments and organizations must work cooperatively and soon to aid the growing number of people and communities impacted by the lack of economic opportunity, politically instability, and dire effects of global climate change. Thousands of refuges who are forced to leave their homes, endure precarious travel and face social barriers in new locations is a heartbreaking reality that is increasing yearly and will continue unless planning and solutions are undertaken.
Thousands of Venezuelan migrants are queuing at the main Ecuador-Peru crossing point in Tumbes.
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Backlash Against Venezuelan Refugees Grows Across South America
Sympathy gives way to resentment over the estimated 2.3 million Venezuelans who have fled to neighboring countries since 2014
By Paulo Trevisani and Samantha Pearson | Photographs by André Liohn for The Wall Street Journal
Updated Aug. 24, 2018 7:18 p.m. ET
PACARAIMA, Brazil—Arriving home from work last Friday in this sweltering Amazonian town along Venezuela’s border, a shopkeeper was beaten by a group of four men who tied him and his wife up before taking $5,600 he had stuffed in his pocket to buy supplies the next day.
The attack proved to be a tipping point for this impoverished town of 10,000 people, where—like across swaths of South America—sympathy is beginning to give way to resentment over the 2.3 million Venezuelans the U.N. estimates have fled to neighboring countries since 2014.
News of the assault prompted Pacaraima locals, who already had been planning a protest the next day, to set fire to a refugee camp and chase away Venezuelans with rocks. The army said at least 1,200 Venezuelans fled Brazil that day back to their homeland.
Tensions across South America have flared as the region’s biggest refugee crisis in recent history escalates. The violent backlash in Pacaraima was the first attack of its kind against Venezuelan refugees.
